Sen. Collins: 'I will not be voting for Donald Trump for president'

In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, wrote that she would not be voting for Donald Trump for president. (WGME)

Maine Senator Susan Collins announced Monday night she will not vote for fellow Republican Donald Trump for president.

Collins said as a lifelong republican, it's not easy to ditch the party's candidate, but she feels she's been left with no other choice.

"This is the oddest political year I have ever seen," said Collins. "It has been completely unpredictable."

Less than 24 hours after her op-ed piece appeared in the Washington Post, Collins reiterated she won't be getting on the Trump train.

"I have reached the inescapable conclusion that Donald Trump lacks the judgement, the temperament, the knowledge and the self-restraint to be our next president," said Collins.

Collins said that conclusion is based on three particular incidents: Trump's mocking of a disabled reporter, his insistence that a federal judge couldn't rule fairly because of his Mexican heritage, and Trump's criticism toward the parents of a fallen Muslim-American soldier.

"That, to me, was inconceivable and was the tipping point in my decision making," Collins said.

Collins, a fourth term senator, said she waited to weigh in, hoping Trump's rhetoric might change once he clinched the nomination.

"I had hoped that after the primary we would see a new Donald Trump, one who was more thoughtful in his comments, who developed policies, who did not denigrate and disparage people, and instead we've seen the same old Donald Trump," said Collins.

She said it's concerning to think of Trump as president.

"I worry in this perilous world that we're living in, that Donald Trump might lash out at some foe, whether real or imagined, and that dangerous events could spin out of control," Collins said.

Collins said she won't vote for Hillary Clinton either. She plans to write in a candidate, maybe Jeb Bush, who she supported from the start, but she's not sure just yet.